Motto Mortgage, a national mortgage brokerage franchisor is claiming that UMortgage “unlawfully solicited” and “induced” a Cincinnati-based Motto franchisee to leave, resulting in a breach. UMortgage is also accused of soliciting other Motto franchises in the litigation. According to the lawsuit, Motto Mortgage Apex was a Motto franchise owned by Leo Grote, Leah Grote, Keyan Change and Breon Price. They announced that they would be ending their contract in December. The contract of the brokerage, which prohibits members from “operating, managing, owning, or having any ownership interest in any Mortgage company,” was in place from December 1, 2018 to December 1, 2025. According to the Denver-based company, Anthony Casa, CEO at UMortgage was aware that bringing Price’s team to his shop would be a violation of the contract. They were fined $172,800 after Price’s group decided to move to UMortgage. Casa eventually paid the fine. Motto points out that Casa knew about the brokerage agreement. Motto’s spokeswoman wrote in an email that Motto is pursuing legal action against UMortgage because the company had intentionally tried to impede on Motto Mortgage franchisee agreements. “Motto Mortgage won’t allow a competitor misrepresent their business acquisitions and incite Motto Mortgage franchisees violate/terminate their franchise agreements. Casa expressed excitement about Price’s team joining UMortgage in mid-December on his LinkedIn page. “Breon is a top-producing loan originator in Ohio and his brokerage ranks as the best in the state. We look forward to bringing this best platform for loan originators into this great market and continuing to grow into a shrinking one,” Casa posted. Motto also claims that UMortgage has “sold and incented other franchisees.” Motto claims that UMortgage “has attempted to solicit and induce other franchisees.” Casa stated that the lawsuit was filed by the company to seek “an amount to trial” and that it was based on the same strategy companies use after losing a top performing loan originator. Casa stated in writing that they filed the lawsuit to intimidate their current loan originators. They want to send a message that if they lose you, they will take legal action.